Tuesday, September 23, 2014

White Cabinets and a Laundry Room Reveal

I am so excited to finally show you a room that has been in progress for a long, long time… my hard-working, sweet little laundry room.

Here’s a little glimpse of what it looked like before:

See those almost orange cabinets? They were the catalyst for this little makeover. They actually used to be off white, but because the painter sprayed them with an oil-based gloss (a band-aid to make up for painting these in the wrong paint finish), they ambered over the past four years to this. Every time I walked in there I wanted to vomit, mostly because I was so dang mad about it. He even sprayed them while they were hanging, so there were obvious drip marks. *Fuming*

So, I did what any DIY gal would do: I stopped getting mad and started painting.

The cabinets are painted in Sherwin Williams Pro Classic paint in Alabaster – it’s the perfect creamy white, and the paint finish is really smooth since it self-levels as it dries. I used a trim brush to get into corners and details and rolled the rest with a foam roller.

My laundry room is really more like a laundry hallway, as it is the entry point to my home from my garage (no glamorous mudroom here folks) – and although I really wanted to get front loaders when we replaced our washer and dryer, I knew that keeping the washer door open to discourage mildew growth would likely lead to a broken washer in this thoroughfare. We went instead with a traditional top load washer, but upgraded to high-efficiency to save water and we’ve been quite happy with our choice.

I use the tops of the cabinets for additional storage by adding baskets – these hold bulk paper towels, seasonal items, and seldom used appliances. I made the cute patchwork grocery bag dispenser a while back and it’s still hanging in there!

Since this is the door my family walks through as we leave our home to start our days, I wanted it to be fun and inspiring so there’s a message to be awesome and a fun little fabric garland on the door. The laundry chalkboard printables were free from the Simple Things and Sweet Bellaroos.

One last peek…

So there you have it guys – the little laundry room that could, made much more cheerful with a nice coat of bright, white paint.

Next up, some kitchen cabinets that fell victim to the same awful painting mistake will be getting a fresh coat of white paint as well – this time, I’ll be trying my hand with a paint sprayer. Whoop! If you have any tips for using a paint sprayer, please share – I’m a little intimidated by the whole thing. Talk me off the ledge?